tale of Shammai and Hillel: heathen came to Shammai and asked to be converted—Shammai drove him away; heathen came to Hillel and Hillel converted him, said, “that which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary—go and learn it.” (Talmud Bavli Shabbat 31a)
is message of Judaism “love thy neighbor”?
study of Torah is main religious preoccupation throughout history of Judaism
ancient rabbis: the world rests on three pillars: study, worship, and good deeds—study is greatest because others can be deduced from study
Torah refers to first five books of Bible, but also to the whole Hebrew Bible, and even all Jewish study
All Jewish literature is Torah: written Torah, midrashic lit., Talmuds, commentaries, legal codes, mystical tradition, philosophical books
Jewish text tradition is great literary achievement of human culture—compelling to anyone interested in literature—has universal themes of all great literature: deciphering laws, interpretation, conflict of faith and reason, the nature of the divine
Jewish lit. is like inverted pyramid with Bible at its base
Gershom Scholem wrote: “not system but commentary is the legitimate form through which truth is approached.” –yet we pursue concepts of originality and creativity
In view of traditional writers, Torah was the word of God; commentators role is to discover God’s intention
every interpretation ever conceived was already known, intended at Mt. Sinai (this idea serves to promote humility)—yet every generation’s teachers must be seen as legitimate and significant
Torah used to have practical, everyday significance for people
Holtz suggests that the purpose of oral Torah was for interaction: “Torah called for a living and dynamic response.” (p.17)—reader and text have a dialogue
George Steiner puts for the idea that studying Torah has provided unity for Jews scattered and in exile
15th century: birth of Jewish printing
Jewish tradition of learning texts involves studying with a learned teacher (master)—Jewish studying has social and religious contexts
Person studying alone is at a disadvantage without social context and reliable authority
People reading texts in translation are also at disadvantage—richness and connotations of original language are lost
Since rabbinic times, sacredness of language and transmitting of letters in Torah scroll (esp. since interpretation of numerical dimension—gematria--of Hebrew letters)
Classic Jewish texts have remained unfamiliar for two reasons: 1) texts remain untranslated and 2) Jews entered mainstream Western culture 200 y.a.; rise of secularization
Recently re-interest has been on the rise: baal teshuvah (returner) phenomenon in U.S. and Israel
Rise of Neo-Orthodox and more (non-Orthodox) adults studying—searching for lost roots and self-awareness
Another cause of invisibility of classic Jewish texts is prejudice and lack of validity from Christianity (Hebrew Bible called “Old Testament”, thus devaluing any writing written after the Bible)
Before 19th century, Jews viewed Bible and other great sources as holy documents, containing wisdom of God’s truth
19th century: rise of scientific study of classic texts (“Wissenschaft des Judentums”)—Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement in Europe—contemporary writers affected by that
Back to the Sources aims to deal with texts in a “popular, nonacademic context” and to make them accessible to all
How is Torah “useful”? Provides behavioral norms, but also needs involvement, passion and self-reflection
Torah is lifelong pursuit
Zohar sees pursuit of Torah as a lifelong romance—a love affair with the text
Barry Holtz: Back to the Sources
Introduction (pp. 11-29) Notes
Bible Answers